Archives for the ‘Perspectives’ Section

The treaty tribes in western Washington believe that the Corps’ streamlined nationwide permit system is making it too easy to damage and destroy important nearshore salmon habitat in western Washington. Here’s what Billy Frank, chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, has to say on the topic:

The Corps is encouraging habitat degradation by streamlining the process to allow property owners to build the very same

It’s clear that the cumulative impacts of docks and bulkheads throughout Puget Sound are changing the character of our region, putting salmon and orca in peril and harming treaty-reserved harvest rights.

So why are these impacts allowed to continue?

A small change in how the federal government permits shoreline modifications could help turn the tide.

Shoreline modifications are often regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of …

The cumulative effects of shoreline modifications – such as bulkheads, mooring buoys, boat ramps and docks – are among the most significant contributors to the loss and decline of salmon and their habitat in western Washington. They also threaten – and in some cases prevent – the ability of tribes to exercise their treaty-reserved fish and shellfish harvest rights.